Chinese digger recommendations

[Carl_NH]

Hi Tex, I ordered on May 3rd, and it was delivered on June 12th, so it took 5 weeks. It really depends on the port of entry. I think they bring them into a port on the East Coast, too—NJ/NY, as our driver was from PA—and then, of course, on the West Coast, into Long Beach.

What I have seen is the orders in the west and your area average between 2-4 weeks and in the east 4-6 weeks. It depends if they have stock in CA or where the ship/container is in transit.

James Knight (who did the YT video) got his in like 10 days from order - he is in Oregon.

As to delivery, I got an email on June 12th at about 6:00 AM (I was traveling) stating that the shipping company would contact me about delivery.

Then at 7:30 AM 90 min later my wife called me and said there is a guy here with your Mini Excavator! He got it off the truck and drove it up the driveway and then brought the extra bucket and quick attach up. All told about 30-45 minutes and he went over everything with my wife too - could not have been nicer!

 

[TexTrctr]

Thx Carl! Wow, I hope I get as good a driver!

 

[2manyrocks]

I'm seeing a swing boom XIX for $11,115 and one without the swing boom for $10,069.95 on the eBay listings. So which one? I was looking at buying a mini ex with tracks because I have about 8 honey locust trees with huge thorns to remove. Plus I have some other tree debris to clean up. Would be nice to get the stumps out of the way, too.

 

[Carl_NH]

Yes you will see different prices the more you look through all the listings - they are all the same machine - Machinery Asia, USA Excavator etc, are Typhon as far as I know.

Usually they have a "best offer" option too, so don't be shy to put in an offer - and ask them to add in some attachments - quick connector, clean up bucket, trenching bucket and since you are doing stumps definitely get a ripper tooth. in other words offer them say 10K but with x attachments included.

Also I found their standard bucket 16" a bit too big for rough ground and rocks and the 8" trencher to be great for rocks etc.

 

[dfkrug]

Also I found their standard bucket 16" a bit too big for rough ground and rocks and the 8" trencher to be great for rocks etc.

Yeah, the 16" is too big, but also the 8" is too small. And both are poorly made and won't last. Folks should try to get the buckets made for some of the 2T and bigger machines.

12-13" wide would be optimal, from my experience. Even that width bucket will get clogged at times.

 

[Carl_NH]

DF - could not agree more on the quality of the buckets and size - a 12" would be perfect. I bought 3/8" steel and reinforced them. Interesting that the tilting/grading buckets are more HD built than the digging buckets, and the rock/screening bucket is the weakest of all of them. Wish they would put good teeth on them too with top/bottom design like on most BH and excavators.

 

[dfkrug]

DF - could not agree more on the quality of the buckets and size - a 12" would be perfect. I bought 3/8" steel and reinforced them. Interesting that the tilting/grading buckets are more HD built than the digging buckets, and the rock/screening bucket is the weakest of all of them. Wish they would put good teeth on them too with top/bottom design like on most BH and excavators.

As you may know, I tossed my OEM teeth right away and welded on my own. They have worked flawlessly, and are far easier to make than drilling holes in the bucket.

Teeth do not have to be long, as you see on most backhoe buckets. Plus, it would take hundreds of hours to wear out the ones I welded on, using plow-type steel.

If you don't like the short ones I did for my 18" Chinese mini-X bucket (posted in one on my threads), then you can do what I did for my backhoe attachment 17y ago (photo). It came with crappy cast teeth, too, so I made tooth holders and welded on off-the-shelf scarifier teeth. 200hr later they are rounded off, but still work great.

 

[Carl_NH]

Hi Guys - found this link to Bison Equipment in PA that buys and resell the Hightop and Vote machines as well a Seisan "commercial excavator" Home - Bison Equipment, Inc.

There are also many videos on these machines on the web site and a "weigh-in" of the Vote, Rippa, and Hightop "2 ton" machines.
- Vote VTW 18 (same as Terror XIX) 1406 KG or 3100Lbs w/o operator
- Hightop 18 (same as Terror XVIII) 1481 KG or 3260 Lbs w/o operator
- Rippa 322 - 1130KG or 2586 Lbs

The difference between the Vote and the Hightop is mostly due to the rear ballast or large weight on the back. Then with an operator they come close to 3600 lbs or 1.8 US tons.

 

[TexTrctr]

Interesting. I saw their site earlier but I didnt pick up on the similarities of their models to the Typhon XIX I ordered nor the actual weights. They say the VTW 18 has the 722 Kubota and mine is supposed to be the 902 (Lectura web-site says 902 is about 9kg (~20lbs) heavier than the 722 so that's helping to get it to the rated "operating weight"). Not sure if there are any other differences. I see the VTW is also quite a bit more expensive than what I paid. I guess its for the warranty and whatever prep they do.

 

[Carl_NH]

Yes - the XIX has the 902 and it is 16 HP vs 14HP of the 722. IMO, the XIX is the better machine in fit and finish and I suspect most of the weight is in the large counter weight on the XVIII.

His prices are higher but they have parts, and one of the better web sites for these mini's regarding content. I have seen postings on ebay to buy the XIX direct from China for $4700 BUT that does not include Duty, Customs Fees, Brokerage Fees and possibly delivery from the Port of entry. So these charges could add $3-4K or more, but that's the unknown. I am OK paying 1-2K more for delivery to my door and no surprises.